Rejected By The Alpha Who Claimed Me 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 61 - 챕터 70

The forest woke slowly.Morning light slipped through the branches in thin silver streaks, touching the frost covered ground and turning the world pale and quiet. The air smelled of cold earth and pine sap, and the camp stirred with the restless energy of wolves who had survived too long in uncertainty to ever fully relax.I stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the patrol team return.Three wolves shifted back to human form just beyond the tree line. One of them was Mira.She rolled her shoulders as she stepped toward me, brushing snow from her dark hair.“Quiet morning,” she said.“That’s usually when trouble is closest.”She snorted softly. “You’re getting paranoid.”“Careful,” I replied. “That kind of thinking keeps us alive.”Behind her, two younger rogues carried a bundle of rabbit traps toward the supply shelter. Another group was stacking wood near the fire pit.Everything looked normal.But the quiet still felt wrong.Mira followed my gaze across the clearing.“You’re t

Snow fell long after Lucian and his wolves disappeared into the forest.I stayed where I was for several minutes, staring into the darkness between the trees as if the Red Hollow Alpha might suddenly step back out again and say something else. Something more honest.But the forest remained quiet.Too quiet.Behind me, the camp slowly began to breathe again. Wolves shifted, murmurs spreading through the clearing as tension eased slightly.Mira walked up beside me and folded her arms.“Well,” she said, voice dry. “That was dramatic.”I exhaled slowly.“You’re not wrong.”Tarek joined us a moment later, rubbing the back of his neck.“Did that really just happen?” he asked.“Yes.”“The Alpha of Red Hollow just casually walked into our camp like he was visiting neighbors.”“He didn’t walk into the camp,” Mira corrected. “He stopped outside it.”“Still counts.”I finally turned away from the forest.Snowflakes landed in Mira’s dark hair as she studied me carefully.“You didn’t look surprise

The forest never felt quiet after that encounter.Even as the sun rose, weak and pale behind a curtain of gray clouds, I felt the weight of every unseen eye pressing against our camp. The rogue wolves moved with their usual efficiency, yet I could sense a tension threading through the air, invisible but undeniable.I stood near the edge of the clearing, letting the frost bite at my fingers as I watched the treeline. Every branch, every shadow seemed to twitch with purpose, as if the forest itself were holding its breath.Tarek approached silently, hands tucked into his cloak. “You’ve been standing there a long time,” he said. His voice was calm, but I could hear the edge beneath it.“I’m thinking,” I replied. My eyes didn’t leave the forest.“About them?”I didn’t need to answer.The memory of the two wolves from the previous night lingered like smoke. They hadn’t attacked, but the message had been clear: Nightfang was watching, and so were others. They were testing me, testing us. Me

The forest never truly slept, not when wolves moved in patterns, not when predators weighed possibilities behind every shadow. I stood near the edge of the northern ridge, the snow crunching softly beneath my boots, each flake settling onto my cloak as if marking the passage of time in quiet witness. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, muscles taut with awareness. The bond throbbed faintly, a distant echo of Kael’s presence somewhere beyond the ridge, a subtle pull that both unnerved and steadied me.I exhaled slowly, letting the cold air fill my lungs, crystallizing the resolve I had clung to since Red Hollow’s Alpha, Lucian, had departed with his warning and his offer. Patience. Observation. Calculated movement. These had become my weapons, as much as any blade or fang. And yet, beneath the surface, there was a tension I could not ignore. Nightfang scouts were moving closer. That much I could feel.Tarek approached quietly from behind, his footsteps muted by the blanket of sn

The snow had turned from light flakes to a steady, heavy fall, each drop blanketing the forest in white, dulling sound and masking movement. I moved cautiously through the trees, boots sinking slightly into the icy ground. Every branch overhead was coated in frost, bending under its weight, threatening to break with the slightest disturbance. The forest felt alive tonight, each shadow a potential threat, each whisper of wind a signal I could not ignore.Tarek walked beside me, silent, alert. Mira trailed a few paces behind, her eyes scanning the trees, ears twitching at the faintest crack of branch or movement in the snow. My senses were taut, sharpened by tension, and yet my mind kept returning to the faint pulse of the bond I could feel in the distance, Kael. Not near, but not far. Close enough that I could sense his intent, the quiet, restrained calculation beneath the surface. He was out there, watching, waiting for me to act.I pressed my fingers to the hilt of my dagger. My wolf